by P. S. Power
They had time before the bus got there and they needed to leave, so Richard walked with the woman to the front office, so she could get some help finding the right picture to work from. It was, as often was the case there, Cin Mableton who came up with a printout of a very attractive woman to be used. One that didn't exist.
“Olga… How about this?” The picture, printed out in full color, was handed over as soon as they walked into the front office space.
Cindy explained the picture, without waiting to be asked.
“It’s a computer-generated picture, taking an average of a hundred different women and merging them into what is close to the prettiest natural face possible. This one is for white women, specifically. We could go with something different, but this works and it isn’t of a specific person.”
The large woman, who was about eight feet tall and muscular enough to make a body builder envious, even at that size, grinned. Then she wiggled the paper a bit.
“This, it is very nice! I might look like this, you think?”
Richard shrugged.
“We can ask about it? No one has tried anything this specific before. If it works, we can show a side by side comparison, maybe? You and the printout. That… People could bring pictures of how they looked before they popped, if they have them? Even if it’s only kind of close, that might work for a lot of people.”
That seemed to be a good enough idea that there were nods in his general direction. No one claimed he was being an idiot at least. That might have been them being polite. Richard was still kind of new there, after all. Neither of them had any reason to be doing that, however, other than just making him feel at home. Unless it wasn’t a bad idea, of course.
Cindy looked at Olga and shook her head.
“We need you to get out of that uniform. Magical clothing is in order. Come with me, I can sign an amulet out to you. Richard… It would probably be rude to invite you along to help Olga play dress up.” She looked snarky, but her voice was calm and pretty mellow about it.
He just nodded.
“I’ll get with the rest of the team going in. Meet back here at about four?” That would get everyone together before the bus got there, if it was on schedule. If not, then they needed to know about it as early as possible. So far they didn’t really have a way to simply call the bus and make certain it had picked everyone up on time from the airport. That was an oversight, and probably his job to work out.
Thinking about that had Cindy nodding at him.
“True. Get on that one? For now…” She looked to the side and read for a bit then nodded. “Everyone made it this time. We have ten people incoming, as planned. They’re on time, so far, barring unforeseen accidents.”
He nodded, since Mableton was great at things like that, finding out what was going on in different locations. That didn't mean he shouldn’t get the driver’s cell number and ask for an update to be called in on a regular basis.
The next few hours were filled with small bits of what Richard thought of as office work. Calling people, checking on his crew and making certain they had all the needed equipment for the job at hand. Everyone was a bit annoyed with him for triple checking it all before they left, naturally. The only one that just went with him on that part was Brian.
The man simply nodded when he’s started again, as if being careful simply made sense. It really did, though most people tended to be lazy about things, when they thought they were on top of their game. They took shortcuts, didn’t check the plan or the gear and didn’t bother to memorize the code numbers for the safe well enough. Any of those things could lead to failure, which in his life meant prison time. Richard wasn’t going to stop what had worked for sixty years or longer simply because a few people gave him nasty and annoyed looks.
Yi held the list for him and read everything off, while making sure that every single object they were talking about was physically touched each time it was ticked off the list. It was all there, of course. They knew that after the first time they went over it.
The only thing that happened was that, on the third time through the list, Charlot Chambers cleared her throat.
“We need a boom mic as well. We have several in storage, so it shouldn’t be hard to find one.”
That took some running, which Brian did for them, knowing where they were kept, as if that made any sense at all. It took a few minutes, but at fifteen before five, they were all staged outside the small red hut on the south side of the command center. The magical construct allowed a line walker to travel into the void between worlds, which meant that Lydia, their main line walker, was able to start loading people out directly.
Brian, using his powers for the job, took the gear for them, along with Olga, since they were friends and it made a bit less work for their transportation person. That had a lot of the others from the base going with the man, since he could do several people at one time, not even needing a special spot or box to make it happen.
The girl had mentioned needing to get in on some training for that kind of thing though. Making her own point to leave from, instead of using a natural point or a magical construct that would have to be left behind every time she used one. It was fine, having a hut up all the time there on the base, of course. That might not fly as well if she were in a desert that she was never going to go back to again. She needed Avery Rome for that. A thing that she was supposed to have looked into a few days before.
Richard didn't ask about it, since the job of the moment wasn’t about that at all. If there was a major problem, hopefully Lydia would have mentioned it to him if it was needed.
The girl, who was cute enough for television or movies, with Korean features and nice black hair, just seemed normal to him. She even smiled when he moved to the front, going first, as was the job he had. Turning to the crowd of new people, many of whom were more than a bit worked up seeming, with over half of them being very obviously Infected for different reasons, Rich spoke, his voice happy.
“We’re about to head over to Noram. I’ll go first, with Lydia here. She’s a line walker, which means that she can travel between worlds. That’s not even her super power, she actually learned how to do it, so be impressed. I know I am!” That got a nervous chuckle from about a third of the group there. “We’ll go in with her, she’ll take your arm, then the world blinks and you’ll be in a different box, like this one, in a different place. There might be some tall people around and possibly a palace looking building. That’s normal, but it can change. I’ll meet you all there in a few minutes.”
Lydia waved to him, from inside the box, and took his arm warmly enough that it probably looked like they were dating or at least close, to anyone watching them. The idea that it was going to look right to the assembled people was still a bit insane to him.
On the other side he was met by Timon Baker this time, instead of Tor, like normal. That made sense, given that the man was planning to come and join the IPB in their own world for a particular project.
Before Lydia could come back with the next person, Brian, Olga, the famous people and their work crew, including Katie, along with the gear, showed up behind Tim. The big man turned, smiling when he noticed them there.
“Ah! Something different today? I see… Cameras, I think? In the cases?” The man spoke in English, but for once it was clear he was simply asking, instead of seeming to know everything already.
Rich laughed a bit.
“Right! We need to get a video of Olga here being changed. I was thinking giant reptile, but Charlot decided that we could just see if one of you can match a picture? You know how she is, with her public relations all the time.” It wasn’t how that conversation had gone at all, but everyone, including Timon, nodded. They really did know the woman, after all and that did sound like her.
She took a few steps forward.
“That’s right. I’d like for her to be the new face of Team One, along with her Team Two duties. She used to be on Spetnaz Ultima, so it’s good inte
rnational relations to show that joining up with us is taken seriously. It’s in the works anyway, but Richard heard about it and decided to set up this demonstration if we’re allowed to do it? We should have asked first.” The woman pretended to seem worried about it.
She wasn’t. Richard was certain of that part of things. The woman was a piranha when it came to public relations. Even after her first mode had been removed, the woman could turn into a wicked and brutal person on a dime, if the need ever came up. The only difference, or so he’d heard, was that she could manage to be sweet now, where it hadn’t really been in her repertoire before.
They were all lying, which Tim would get, so Rich nodded at the words.
“More or less true. Is that doable? I was hoping we could get you to do the work, with one of the gentlemen here interviewing you first.” Which one, he didn't know. They had some to choose from at least.
Charlot, waved behind herself.
“We should get Mark in for that part, if that’s all right? I’d like to have some color commentary as well, from Scott and Karen. They’re identifiable in the Infected community, where Mark is going to be recognized by a larger group of people.” She winced then, as if the words were going to be hard for the others to hear. As if they didn't live their own lives every single day.
Scott, who had lavender eyes, metallic gold skin and blond hair, simply nodded.
“True. Really, we should have gotten Warren in as well. Still, this group will work well enough. I don’t speak Standard yet… Do we have enough people around that can speak English, do you think? That would work best for television, I’d have to think.”
They’d shown up, asking for a lot of different things, suddenly. Instead of getting mad or even gently demurring, Timon smiled as the new people, the subjects for the day, started to come out of the box. About two every minute or so.
“Let me get in touch with some people? I do know some people that might work. Then we can put together what you want, Miss?” That was spoken to Olga, personally. It got her to look away, blushing a scarlet red.
“Da. We can do that. Thank you.”
Dean, finally, came out of the mansion, walking over to Richard, first thing.
“I have a speech ready, as soon as everyone gets in. This is exciting. I was just in talking to the mages we have in today.” He stopped then, the older man, who looked a strapping thirty, instead of a plump fifty after the changes made to him, suddenly seeming hard. “That new language program hurts. I did Standard and Vaguasian. I still need a bunch of other languages, but had to take a break for a few days. It really works though. I used the new rocks that Taman brought? She’s a nice young lady, isn’t she? She let me try the things without even having to beg to give it a go. I just asked and she acted like I was the one giving her a present. I should get her a present, if I can think of anything.”
The man seemed almost to be a bit manic, which was nerves, most likely. Some people spoke a bit faster when they were under stress. A bit louder as well. It seemed that Dean was one of those types of people. Still, it wasn’t that big of a deal. They just needed to get the butts in the right seats, with the mages being set to the correct tasks. That the man had already learned a third language in order to do his job correctly was a great sign, as far as Richard was concerned. He’d need to get that going as well, as soon as the other job was done. If he survived it.
Kate moved over to him, standing as if it was only natural for her to be part of the group. She bowed toward Tim, who did it back, which got all of the old hands to do the same thing, with one of the new people, a confused looking man with red skin and a look kind of like a short, but humanoid, dragon, to do the same thing. Timon simply waved the man over, since his bowing clearly meant the man was in the loop.
Whatever his first mode was, it didn’t start a fight or cause the dragon fellow to run away, first thing.
Katie looked at the man, and smiled.
“This is Glen. Richard, you know a friend of his, Tank Demore? From the storm?”
He actually did, so nodded. The man was a funny boy, and had an Infected partner. Gay, the term was now. It had been for long enough that he knew better than to call them funny boys any longer. Then, he didn't do that kind of thing out loud. It wasn’t like he had a problem with that kind of person or anything. Just old habits and ways that needed to change.
After all, the man was married to the man. That sounded like he was taking things seriously enough. The only issue was the past that Rich was bringing into the situation with him. Old ways of thinking that didn’t reflect on the other men at all. Just him.
“Right! Tank and Sam, both. They helped me out of a bit of a jam I was in, a few months back. Stuck in a flood with a group of older people. Tank got us to safety. Good man, there. Sam was pretty cool, too. I loved the glowing thing he does.” The illusions weren’t bad either, though he only saw a few of those.
Glen, the red dragon, laughed a bit then.
“That’s incredible. I’ll have to let them know that they have friends in a different world already. I’m the first from our group to try this. My mode isn’t bad. I’m pretty friendly is all. The scales are a pain though. I mean that, literally. It’s a constant thing. So I figured on taking a chance with you here.” He tapped his left arm, with a click, to show what he meant.
Timon nodded toward him.
“We should be able to help with that, if the Infection allows. So far it hasn’t insisted that anyone be left in pain or discomfort, so I like our chances that way. You’re friends with Mr. Drake, but not from the IPB? That’s… Different. I…” He looked away then, and made a face, then spoke in Standard.
“I do not know if this is… Is he a special dignitary or special friend that we need to show extra deference to? Not that all of the brave souls coming to aid us in our practices aren’t special.” He seemed baffled, which had to be false.
The man was simply too intelligent not to get the idea.
Speaking in English, Richard explained.
“A friend of his, named Tank, saved my life or at least the lives of those with me at the time, about three months back, in my time. It means that people from his group will get to come here sooner, once he lets me know they want to come. I’ve heard that other schools might want to put in training programs like the one Torrance Baker has going on. Perhaps we could talk Glen or one of his friends into working on that with you? Or whomever is running the program, of course.”
For the life of him, Richard didn’t know why he was saying what he was. His job was just to get people in to practice on. Using the good mages and wizards there for free labor. Offering to do more was pushing things, more than a little bit.
Katie smiled at him.
“Brian’s powers. He does that. It isn’t a thing he can control either. That being the case, we should probably look into it? Maybe get… Erath to see about heading one of the new programs? He’s famous, after all. Good, too, from what I can tell.”
How the woman was supposed to know that wasn’t asked about by the wizard. That was probably due to him already working out how it was taking place. The man was brilliant that way, after all. Almost instantly, he bowed, this time to Glen, directly. Everyone around bowed again, except the new people, who were still walking out of the box, being brought in one by one.
Tim seemed pleased by the idea, anyway.
“That would be amazing, if you’d be willing to consider it, Glen? I think that would be a wonderful occupation for Erath to look into. I’ll make a point of asking him about it later. For now… I think we should all look to Dean, who has a similar job to the one that we’re volunteering you for here. This is his first day, if I have that right. That man, over there.”
Dean collected everyone together, got a head count and then a bit nervously, ran everyone through what could be done that day.
“So far, everyone has been able to have their first mode removed or at least changed to something bearable. I mean, I clearly st
ill talk a bit loud and fast when I get nervous, but it isn’t the screaming and carrying on that it used to be by even a small bit! Oh, the noise that used to make. Now, when we go inside, you’ll each be paired with a student mage, that is, they’re all studying how to make life changes to adult living human beings, but have already become full mages, which is… Well, magic, but it’s kind of like they’ve already become doctors, and are specializing in a related field, so it isn’t nearly as dangerous as it sounds.”
One of the men in the crowd that day made a rude sound then.
“I’d try it if it was a coin toss as far as me dying.”
Dean waved to the man.
“I know. We all do, here. Still, the fact is, these people are good. The trick is that they need to be given tasks that are interesting and challenging to them. So be creative. I’ll be around to explain what you want. Remember, we can go more than once, if it comes up, so if you try something and don’t like it, they can also take it back, later. This is really exciting and fun. It takes about four to five hours, depending on who’s doing the work. Try to hold still, if you can?”
Not everyone could. How they got around that… well, normally, by working very hard and taking a lot longer than things really had to. Richard had seen it happen, more than once.
Dean led them all inside, with Kate grabbing a camera and following along, taking it all down for them. She didn’t ask what the plan was, since she was already going to know all about it. That meant, she, Brian Yi and Cindy, of all people, worked cameras and sound for them, while Mark Steinberg moved in and started to speak to both Olga and Tim Baker as they got inside. Tim explained the whole thing, very carefully.
It was, interestingly enough, educational to listen to. Even for Richard who had been around this kind of work for months. The explanation given was far more detailed than he would have thought to ask for, just for a video. Really, it told him how to do it, if he had the ability to focus well enough, for long enough. Nothing was being hidden as far as he could tell.